Ethnic minorities desert Labour, turn to Denk ahead of March vote

Ethnic minority voters are turning their backs on the Labour party and many plan to vote for Denk, the party set up by two former Labour MPs with a Turkish background, according to new research.

A poll of nearly 1,800 ethnic minority voters found 20% plan to vote for the Labour party, compared with 40% four years ago, the AD reported on Monday.

The poll was carried out by market researcher Aziz El Kaddouri. He found 40% of Dutch Turks and 34% of Dutch Moroccans plan to vote for Denk. Labour is still favourite among people of Surinamese and Antillean descent.

‘Denk is the party of the angry brown man,’ El Kaddouri told the paper. ‘It is extremely popular with Turkish and Moroccan youngsters. And they have an influence on their families because they are often better educated and better informed.’

Amsterdam University political scientist Floris Vermeulen told the paper that religion and country of origin are having an impact on ethnic minority voting.

Labour, for example, is very critical of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, he pointed out. ‘So these voters are looking for another party and Denk has filled the gap,’ Vermeulen said.

Denk is tipped to pick up one or two seats in the March 15 vote.

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